title: Characterization and sociocultural predictors of neuropsychological test performance in HIV+ Hispanic individuals.
abstract: Hispanic individuals in the U.S. have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, yet little is known regarding the neuropsychological sequelae of HIV within the Hispanic population. This study characterized neuropsychological (NP) test performance of HIV+ English-speaking Hispanic participants (n = 51) and investigated the combined roles of sociocultural factors (e.g., ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES] proxy, and reading level) on NP test performance among our HIV+ Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants (n = 49). Results revealed that the pattern of NP impairment in HIV+ Hispanic participants is consistent with the frontal-striatal pattern observed in HIV-associated CNS sequelae, and the overall prevalence of global NP impairment was high compared to previous reports with more ethnically homogeneous, non-Hispanic White cohorts. Multivariate prediction models that considered both sociocultural factors and CD4 count revealed that reading level was the only unique predictor of global NP functioning, learning, and attention/working memory. In contrast, ethnicity was the only unique predictor of abstraction/executive functioning. This study provides support for the use of neuropsychological evaluation in detecting HIV-associated NP impairment among HIV+ Hispanic participants and adds to the growing literature regarding the importance of considering sociocultural factors in the interpretation of NP test performance.
authors.affiliation: Fordham University Department of Psychology, New York, NY 10023, USA. monica.mindt@mssm.edu
authors.forename: Monica Rivera
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mindt
authors.forename: Desiree
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Byrd
authors.forename: Elizabeth L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Reuben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Monzones
authors.forename: Alyssa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arentoft
authors.forename: Kaori Kubo
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Germano
authors.forename: Debra E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Henniger
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morgello
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D003469:Culture; D004522:Educational Status; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011584:Psychology